• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
The Artisan Life
  • Dot Marker Pages
  • Learning Center
  • Seasonal Printables
    • Winter Printables
    • Valentine's Day printables
    • St. Patrick's Day printables
    • Earth Day
    • Easter printables
    • Mother's Day
    • Fall printables
    • Thanksgiving Printables
    • Christmas Printables
  • Printable Calendars
  • Preschool + K
    • Alphabet Tracing Worksheets
    • Dot Marker Pages
    • Cut & Paste Crafts
    • Preschool Math
    • Fine Motor Practice Pages
    • Spanish Preschool Pages
  • Coloring Pages
  • Shop
  • Recipes
    • Healthy dessert recipes
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Dot Marker Pages
  • Free Printables
    • Preschool worksheets
    • Free Printable Coloring Pages
    • Printable journals & planners
  • Learning Center
  • Shape Templates
  • Coloring Pages
  • St Pat's Printables
  • Desserts
  • Dot Marker Bundle
  • Shop
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • search icon
    Homepage link
    • Dot Marker Pages
    • Free Printables
      • Preschool worksheets
      • Free Printable Coloring Pages
      • Printable journals & planners
    • Learning Center
    • Shape Templates
    • Coloring Pages
    • St Pat's Printables
    • Desserts
    • Dot Marker Bundle
    • Shop
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • ×
    Home » Uncategorized

    Watercolor Pineapple Tutorial - How to Paint a Colorful Watercolor Pineapple Postcard

    Published: Apr 9, 2018 · Modified: Feb 4, 2025

    34 shares
    • Share

    This tutorial for a watercolor pineapple is so easy to follow with a full-length video!

    colorful watercolor pineapple tutorial

    This post may include affiliate links, which means I may make a commission on purchases made through these links at no additional cost to you. 

    I painted this pineapple on a postcard to help make the project more accessible, but you can absolutely use something else. These watercolor postcards are inexpensive, easy to find, and an easy, small size. Please use something else if you'd prefer. You can also use whatever colors you'd like, but I love the colorful, tropical vibe this pineapple has!

    Materials needed to paint a colorful watercolor pineapple

    • Watercolor paper. Please use at least 140 lb paper if you want to enjoy the process and your results! I demonstrated using 4x6 watercolor postcards. (For my 'normal' paintings I typically use Arches cold press paper.)
    • Watercolor paints in your chosen colors. I recommend, at minimum, a pink, a yellow, and a green. I also used a purple and a blue for added interest.
      • You can use whatever watercolor paints you have on hand, but I used my artist quality paints. I use primarily tube watercolor paints, but the colors I use should all be available in pans (dry cakes) if that's what you prefer. My first watercolor teacher liked the pans, so that's what I ended up with!
        • Daler-Rowney Transparent Turquoise (at the time of writing, I could not find this one on Amazon to give you a link)
        • Holbein Mineral Violet (a lovely purple that 'granulates' and spreads/mixes well)
        • Winsor & Newton Permanent Rose
        • Daniel Smith New Gamboge (this is a warm yellow)
        • Daniel Smith Pthalo Green Blue Shade 
        • I've used more of this paint than any other color and after several years I have loads of it left. Watercolor paints are expensive per milliliter, but they last a very long time.
      • If you're not looking to invest in artist quality paints but want something a bit nicer than Crayola, the Sakura Koi watercolor field set is a popular choice.
      • The Prima watercolor set in Tropical would also be a good choice for this project.
    • A pencil for sketching your pineapple. I always sketch with my .9mm Sakura Sumo pencil.
    • A fine tipped white paint pen. I used an ultra fine Posca Pen, but a Sharpie paint pen or some other brand would work fine.
    • Watercolor paint brushes. I used a #6 and a #8 round.
    • Paper towels for wiping your brush
    • Water and a container. Using a too small water container is a huge mistake! I use a 2.5 quart paint mixing bucket from the hardware store. You don't have to go quite that large, but please use something sizable (large yogurt container, plastic ice cream/sorbet container, etc.)
    • Something to use as a palette. A disposable plastic plate is fine. I'm demonstrating using a cheap ceramic plate from a discount store.

    Although I've provided Amazon links above, and I've purchased most of my art supplies from Amazon recently because of the shipping to Hawaii, my favorite online art retailer is Cheap Joe's. They have a great selection and discount prices. I'm not a Cheap Joe's affiliate, just a fan who can't wait to visit their physical stores in North Carolina one day soonish.

    Tropical watercolor pineapple tutorial

    As I mentioned above, this is primarily a video tutorial because it's such easier to demonstrate watercolors in video than with still images. If video isn't your thing, the basic steps are listed below the video.

     

    Sketch our your pineapple. Draw an oval, refine it into an egg shape if you'd like, then add spiky bits on top for the leaves.

    Get your purple, pink, and yellow paints mixed up so they're wet, but also nice and juicy with plenty of pigment.

    Lightly wet the pineapple, but not the leaves.

    Paint the bottom of the pineapple purple.

    Clean your brush, then add pink in the middle third-ish of the pineapple. Start from the top and then pull the paint down into the purple. I like to dab the tip of my brush on the paper towels before heading to my paper so I don't get a sudden blob of water/pigment because this can mess up your painting.

    add pink on watercolor pineapple

    Clean your brush and add yellow to the top of the pineapple. Bring some down into the pink so it can mix and make an orange shade, but do not let the purple and yellow mix. They are complements, which means they look well next to each other but turn to mud when mixed.

    add yellow on watercolor pineapple

    Allow the pineapple's body to fully dry, then wet your green and blue paints. Add more water to the yellow, if needed.

    Working on one leaf at a time, lightly wet the leaf, then add blue to the bottom, green to the middle, and a touch of yellow on the end/top. Always make sure to wash your brush well between colors and dab off extra water so you don't dilute your paint more and more as time goes on.

    paint the watercolor pineapple leaves

    Once everything is dry, add crosshatching with your paint pen.

    use paint pen to add crosshatching on pineapple

    Voila! A cute, colorful watercolor pineapple. If you'd like to actually mail your postcard, I recommend using an envelope and sealing the postcard with a protectant (like the Krylon matte clear spray, for example).

    colorful watercolor pineapple tutorial

    I had so much fun making this watercolor pineapple tutorial that I can't wait to share more watercolor tutorials in the future! It was very enjoyable to do a quick and easy project. These days, even small paintings can take me a couple of weeks to complete because of LG. This luna moth, for example, sat around for at least two weeks partially finished. Yikes! It was great to have a painting I could quickly finish in under an hour.luna moth watercolor painting with moon

    I really hope you enjoyed this watercolor pineapple tutorial as much as I did. Is there anything in particular you'd like to see as a watercolor tutorial in the future?

    Natasha of The Artisan Life-01

    More Related Posts

    [pt_view id=“15d429e15n"]

    [catlist search="tutorial" numberposts=4 orderby=rand excludeposts=this]

     

    SaveSaveSaveSave

    SaveSave

    SaveSave

    SaveSave

    More Uncategorized

    • Text "free printable all about my teacher questionnaire" with a preview of a cute teacher questionnaire printable
      Free Printable All About my Teacher Questionnaire
    • Text "fine motor tracing worksheets" with a preview of seven fine motor tracing worksheets for preschoolers
      Free Printable Thanksgiving Prewriting Worksheets
    • Free Printable Beginner 4x4 Sudoku Puzzles
    • A preview of two printable November calendar pages for 2023
      Free Printable November Calendar 2023
    34 shares
    • Share
    text "access hundreds of printables now"

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Marieken

      April 09, 2018 at 8:39 pm

      That's a happy looking pineapple! I always enjoy your tutorials. There are so many floating around the internet, but yours always stand out.

      Reply
      • Natasha

        April 10, 2018 at 1:18 pm

        Thank you!

        Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    Text "Hello! I'm Natasha!" with an image of a woman a blue shirt

    Hi, I’m Natasha! I'm so glad you're here.

    I'm a former classroom teacher with a Masters of the Arts in Teaching turned homeschooler. I share educational & planner printables for busy parents and teachers. Simplify your life when you discover how to instantly access 700+ printables here!

    More about me →

    Popular

    • Three graduation-themed coloring pages for preschool, featuring celebratory phrases and images of children in caps and gowns, suitable for graduation activities and crafts.
      Free Printable Preschool and Kindergarten Graduation Coloring Pages
    • Three fall-themed coloring pages featuring an owl on a pumpkin, a hedgehog with mushrooms, and a gnome in an autumn setting, labeled as "Bold & Easy Fall Coloring Pages".
      Free Printable Bold & Easy Fall Coloring Pages
    • text "free printable popsicle coloring pages" with a preview of there pages of popsicle coloring sheets
      Free Printable Popsicle Coloring Pages
    • A collection of three bold and easy beach-themed coloring pages for kids, featuring a girl playing in the sand, an ice cream cone, and a bear relaxing on a beach mat, all designed for summer coloring activities.
      Free Printable Bold and Easy Beach Coloring Pages

    The Artisan Life is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

    The Artisan Life also uses affiliate links for other sites. For a full look at my policy, please visit its page here.

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclaimer

    Save Time

    • Join the Learning Center for quick & easy access to hundreds of printables

    Contact

    • Contact

    If you have any questions feel free to contact me directly here: natashalh(at)stalkingthewildsnark(dot)com. I do not accept guest posts and will not respond to unsolicited requests for guest posts or links. Stock images by Depositphotos

    COPYRIGHT © 2012 – 2025 The Artisan Life · ALL RIGHTS RESERVED